Breaking Up with American: A Frequent Flying Budget Traveler’s Dilemma

May 22, 2017 / By NomadicMatt

I did it. I went back and forth on the decision for a long time. Like someone who just couldn’t let go, I continued with the relationship even though I knew, deep down, it was over.

But there’s always a tipping point when you must face reality — and that point was when I realized I’m just not going to fly all that much this year.

So I did it: I finally split up with American Airlines.

After years of being loyal to them and the Oneworld alliance, paying extra for flights to ensure I kept my status, and championing them on the web, it’s time to face the truth: they’ve ruined their once-stellar loyalty program and given me (and basically everyone else) no incentive to fly them over any other (crappy domestic) airline.

A few years ago, both Delta and United devalued their award charts — awarding fewer miles per flight (unless you bought high-priced tickets), requiring more miles when redeeming them for a flight (The Points Guy just recently showed a screenshot of Delta requiring 255,000 miles to go from NYC to LAX! Crazy!), reducing benefits, and requiring customers to spend a certain amount of money to maintain their elite status. Their message was clear: “We only value you if you spend lots of money with us.”

Yet (in part because of their merger with US Airways) American held out — often increasing benefits. American AAdvantage was a shining jewel in the airline industry, lauded by journalists, insiders, and consumers alike.

I went out of my way to fly American because I felt my loyalty was valued. I was upgraded often, their employees were friendly, customer service issues were often solved swiftly, it was easy to find award seats, and they were often generous in their benefits.

But in the last year, they’ve let their program go to hell.

What’s wrong with American AAdvantage?

They now require elite-qualifying dollars (EQDs), but unlike United and Delta, they offer no waiver if you spend a lot on American’s branded credit cards.

Confirmed upgrades for anyone but the top elites is basically impossible. I can’t remember the last time I got an upgrade.

They have slashed miles earnings on their partner’s flights.

They now prioritize upgrades based on status and spending (take that, million-mile status folks!).

How they calculate EQDs is opaque and not straightforward. One dollar spent is not one EQD earned, even if you purchase full fare business and first class tickets.

The list goes on. There have been so many blog posts written about the demise of AA’s loyalty program that I’ll just link to them here, here, here, here, here, and here. And here and here too. (Ok and here too!)

American AAdvantage was the only thing American really had going for it. It was the sole reason I flew them. Sure, their new 777 and A321T planes are nice, but even when they refurbish their old planes they still have many varieties you never know what kind of plane you’re stepping on. It could be a nice and new interior or it could be something last refurbished in 1987. (And you never want to get on an old US Airways plane — no power, no TVs, and a disgusting interior) Plus, the food in their lounges is terrible (as well as the lounges themselves), their partners are not as great as United’s, and their in-flight service/seats/food aren’t as good as Delta’s. I redeemed miles for a business-class flight from Paris with AA and this is the food I got:

What the hell is that? I mean seriously. McDonald’s would have been a better option. (It tasted as disgusting as it looks!)

I fly a lot — over 100,000 miles on over 50 flights last year. (Maybe more. I lose track.) I’m a frequent traveler — but I’m a cheap frequent traveler. I always buy the cheap economy-class tickets and use my status and miles to upgrade.

That makes me a low-revenue flier. I probably spend $6,000–10,000 a year on flights. That’s a lot by everyday standards, but when it’s your job to travel, you’re off to conferences all the time, and have team members to book flights for too, I think I’m actually coming in pretty low. And I also spread that around multiple airlines.

American now requires me to spend $6,000 a year on American alone just to get mid-level platinum status (the kind that gets you international lounge access). I don’t remember the last time I spent that much money on one airline.

And thus the current dilemma: If you are a low-spending but still frequent traveler, does it make sense to stay loyal to an airline in this day and age?

The answer, I’ve come to realize, is a resounding NO.

As someone who likes the concept and perks of loyalty, it saddens me to say this, but unless you are spending a lot of money on one airline, loyalty — at least to airlines — is an antiquated concept.

The major airlines in the United States do not value your loyalty anymore. They are only rewarding their high-spending clients with deep pockets — not their frequent clients. Travel 100,000 miles a year, but on just a few cheap tickets? Great — that will earn you a pat on the back. Spend $20,000 on a few high-priced tickets? The red carpet is rolled out for you!

Why? Because (a) they are flying fuller planes so don’t need to cater to customers as much, (b) people are shelling out for perks, and (c) they are assholes and don’t give a f**k…because they know you don’t have any many options, and (d) when X% of revenue comes from higher spenders, why should they care about low spenders?

I used to say that if you can fly 50,000 miles or more, it’s worth focusing on one airline and alliance because the perks are worth the extra price (especially the international lounges). But now, with the heightened spending requirements, reduced benefits, and overall “F U” attitude airlines have, it doesn’t make sense to be loyal to an airline if you aren’t a high spending traveler.

As we get close to the midway point of the year, I realize that, for the first time in a long time, I’ll end this year with no elite status. Most of my flights for the rest of the year are long-haul international flights — the kind I always use points on so I can fly for free in business class. Most of my paid, status-earning flights will be cheap domestic flights. With the new spending demands, I’m simply not going to be able to meet the status requirements – for any airline.

Sure, I could spend $25,000 on my American AAdvantage credit card to get partial credit toward the EQDs but (1) that’s a ton of money to spend and (2) if I did spend that much, I would get one point per dollar spent. Why would I do that when I could get three times as many points on other cards? It doesn’t make sense.

So I will lose my status — and, honestly, I have no desire to get it back.

This has changed how I fly. Now, it’s all about price. I’m not going to bother spending an extra $20, $50, or $100 for a flight to maintain my elite status. Why should I? Airlines aren’t giving me a reason to.

Just give me the cheapest flight.

I’m flying Alaska/Virgin, JetBlue, and Southwest a lot more. These airlines don’t have baggage fees, they do have friendlier staff, and better in-flight products (hello, free gate to gate Wi-Fi on JetBlue!). I’ve been flying these airlines a lot lately and the experience is leagues better than the big three!

I still believe in the art of travel hacking and as such will continue to collect credit card points and airline miles so that when it’s time to fly overseas, I can redeem those miles for nice business-class seats. I mean, when you are flying premium, you’re treated well — paid ticket or not! Additionally, I’ll keep all the airline credit cards since they come with the perks of basic elite status, like priority check-in and boarding and free bag checking. When you’re being charged for bags and required to go all Hunger Games for overhead space, those perks are worth the yearly credit card fee.

Airlines always say that, since consumers fly on price, they have no incentive to offer better service or amenities. And, that’s true to an extent. Most leisure travelers fly only on price. They just want to go from A to B on the cheapest fare and have mostly accepted that service will be terrible.

But when you cut loyalty programs, you make frequent travelers like me also only care about price and you shoot yourself in the foot.

Because now I have no incentive to go out of my way to fly you. And the first rule of business is that is always cheaper to retain a customer than a acquire a new one.

So, simply put, in this day and age, there’s no reason to be loyal to any one airline. Collect frequent flier points and miles for premium seats on those long-haul flights (free flights are the best flights) and fly short haul flights based on price. Go with whatever is cheap!

Because screw these big airlines.

(If you’re super rich, fly a ton, and buy higher-priced tickets — then ignore all this advice because you’re now making out like a bandit! Please pass some champagne to us in coach!)

P.S. – Ever wanted to visit Austin? Next month, I’ll be leading a small group of people around my home city! We’ll be staying in the hostel I own, visiting my favorite locals bars and restaurants, hanging with some of my cool friends, and two stepping the night away! If you want to spend a few days down south, here’s more information!

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Actually if you are in cities that are served by Alasaka Airlines, they do a good job of upgrading and otherwise taking care of their frequent flyers, regardless of what you paid for the ticket. For those of us out west this work really well, and I get upgraded about a third of the time.

I could not agree more. This is my first year of no loyalty to an airline and it has been awesome. No more spending hours trying to make my trip fit to AA as the least logical fare in our travel system. No more taking an extra hop just so I could get more miles. Just find the cheapest or shortest flight and book it. I was able to fly Business Class on Emirates to Asia on the A380 for half the cost of AA and no 18 hour layover at DFW.

The big three are not doing anything to earn your loyalty so why should you be loyal to them.

Don’t forget that they’re doing this too from Forbes- American Airlines (AAL) is planning to decrease the front-to-back space between some of its economy class seats by another two inches.

The airline says it plans to add more seats on its coming Boeing (BA) 737 Max jetliners. To do that, it will shrink the distance between seats, also known as pitch, from 31 inches to 29 inches on three rows of the airplane, and down to 30-inches in the rest of its main economy cabin.

I’ve maintained status with AA for the last five years, before that with Delta. For the past two years I’ve been executive platinum. This year I’ve already flown over 50k miles, and would meet the 100k and EQD spend to re-qualify for platinum, but I’m not going to. I live in Houston and United is the major carrier here. With American’s old program, I could totally justify doing an extra couple of stops, to gain superior FF benefits… I could fly to HKG for business and net around 30k miles. Two cycles ago, executive platinum provided eight system wide upgrades! Now, their program is virtually a copy off of United’s and Delta’s. Being based in Houston, I’ve decided to fly United because they and their partner’s offer the most direct routes to pretty much any destination that I’d like to travel to. I actually believe that American is going to lose many more “high spenders” (those paying well-over 12k per year on tickets) that are frequent flyers. Then we have the others — I have a friend who spends on the upwards of 50k per year on premium cabin tickets for his job. Why would someone like him fly American? He has far superior options with respect to service, on-time performance, etc., on other airlines. Moreover, he doesn’t need loyalty because he is always sitting up front on paid fares. Why on Earth does American think that they are going to attract high paying customers given that they lack in the factors that high-spenders expect?

I don’t fault American for making more money and aligning their program with others.Sure they could have done it better than their competitors But they did choose to be slightly worse

I left after 8 million miles earned and lifetime Plat status because saver awards on AA metal are near non existent these days .AA ranks in the bottom 3 of all FF programs for redemption in North America Even the head of the AA program admitted after the dire ratings were announced there is a need for an improvement.Understatement) American created the 1st FF loyalty program in 1981 it took the government to allow these carriers to conspire and ruin the original and former best program in the world. We can all thank Mr Parker who took a wrecking ball to the program and redemption and now trying to turn American into a budget discount carrier with shrinking seats while they try to charge a premium I follow your lead Alaska Virgin Jet Blue and Southwest American continues to shed many a customer but their customer relations is just as bad as saver award redemption its near non existent and for that reason IMHO the party has been over for nearly the last year or so RIP American it will take a new CEO likely to repair the damage if ever They don’t get it and think they are the last carrier standing Worse they wont listen to any of their customers concerns Shameful company 🙁

I have to give Alaska Airlines credit for having a mileage program worth sticking with. Having a 49th State status (Alaska resident) and an MVP status on Alaska Air is worth the extra few dollars you pay. Annual companion fare, frequent upgrades, free bags, and good service, best on time record…Alaska Air customers are loyal for a reason. With the merger to Virgin Air, it expands the options. The food isn’t that bad either. ?

Matt’s comments are appropriate and on point. AA has destroyed their customer loyalty programs. We’ve been AA frequent flyers and AAdvantage members for over 25 years, and I’ve held Platinum on US Airways and ExPlat on AA.

The changes made over the last year initially brought the once-superior AAdvantage program down to the level of UA’s and DL’s programs, and have now put it into the basement of airlines awards programs. All done to enrich the pockets of the CEO and airline executives. These airlines’ flight crews and pilots certainly won’t be seeing much of those extra billions made by shating their customers.

The savvy airline consumer, like Matt, will now use their travel dollars wisely, and not be tethered to a Ponzi scheme gauranteed to make the airline’s big honchos wealthy. BTW, I’ve also been an A-List with WN for 12 years – their positive attitude and dedication to customer service are phenomenal!

Of course, the people who say “stop whining when the airline goes for high spenders” are correct. For now. But this is what’s so amusingly myopic. The current strategy of gutting “loyalty” programs for moderate spenders is fine in a world of cheap oil and full planes. But some day the party will come to an end, and the airlines will find that with no trust among frequent fliers they will have to spend a lot more to recover passengers in adverse economic conditions.

It took you this long to figure it out?? There was never any reason to hype AA except as a short term play after UA/DL went to revenue-based earn programs. And loyalty has been an outdated concept for years. Airlines have always rewarded their best customers – they’ve simply changed the definition to provide better benefits to those who are more profitable rather than those who fly the longest flights on cheapo fares. Personally this works fine for me as I have memberships in all programs. For family vacations I simply choose the airline that provides the lowest price after factoring the cost/value of E+ seats, baggage, etc.

I still have a lot to learn on this subject, but I have noticed just in the two years of frequent travel that American has drastically changed as you said. There are fewer awards flights available, and the ones that are now are never direct and frequently 2 stops with odd times or long layovers and require more miles. That wasn’t the case in 2015. We can’t even use a significant gift card we have if the flight doesn’t originate from the U.S. That was news to me and a seemingly odd restriction for something someone paid good money for. Even with the platinum select credit card your checked baggage is only guaranteed free for domestic flights. We paid for our baggage to Mexico. We’re just trying to keep up with the learning curve!!

You know what? Some times change is for the best. It’s good to evaluate what you purchase/use. As you said, there is no reason to be loyal to any one airline. If the customer service isn’t satisfactory any more (and it isn’t), don’t fly with them. I certainly agree with your decision.

I am an AA Executive Platinum member and have Platinum reserved for next year already – I have decided the rest of the year I am moving toward Alaska/Virgin and will status match (if I dont reach MVP Gold) at the end end of the year. Their partners are pretty good (certainly as good as AA), you can actually accrue miles, and with the new routes, they actually have pretty good coverage. I am done with AA after never getting upgrades (even as a EP), not being able to upgrade my wife (blew through he 500 mile credits), shitty service, Economy basic, and the upcoming 737 29″ seats. I have honestly had enough and I fly 100k+ miles on American a year.

I actually have a miles reward kind of program through my credit card. I use it to book everything and so slowly the points add up, but it is really slow. I get lounge access because I spend so much on my credit card, which is handy but I don’t think I’d be able to get it if it was just based on amount spent on flights.

I have to agree. I’m a million miler on American (currently at 68 segments and 52k miles YTD w/ $10k+ of EQD’s) and I have issues getting upgrades as an Exec Plat for 8 yrs running. I’ve noticed that First Class fares have come down a lot in price which might be contributing to the problem of upgrades. I’ve purchased 6 First Class tickets this year and I have only purchased 4 over the previous 7 yrs. If my travel throttles back just a little I won’t stay loyal.

Loyalty only benefits the airlines (and other companies with loyalty programmes) . Be loyal to no one . Then they have to work for your business with service and pricing as the determining factors as to whether or not you choose them . You have choices.. make good choices !!

The same things has happened here in Australia. I too used to spend more to travel Qantas everywhere domestically and international but their frequent flier program has become ridiculously useless and majority of the cheap flights dont even accrue points. To make matters worse the reward flights when booked usually end up only showing availability on Jetstar (Qantas owned) which doesnt include meals, entertainment or baggage which they then charge you for on a FF booking. Definitely best to fly any airline at the best deal these days.

You are spot on! I just broke up with Air Canada – Star Alliance for all of these reasons. I traveled on long haul flights all over the world last month but decided it was worth more experiencing the much lauded services of other airlines over securing my elite status with Air Canada.

I live in Philly which means I end up on AA a lot since PHL was a US Dare hub. The thought of the new decreased seat pitch is horrifying—and I’m short! Oh well, more work for my husband, a pulmonary doc, due to more pulmonary emboli from an increased incidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) caused by not being able to move. 😉

My travel profile is almost exactly the same as yours, and I came to the same conclusion last year. There is no advantage to being a loyal customer at our level. I just book the cheapest travel that fits my schedule regardless of carrier.

In fact, for trips less than 400 miles, I rent a car rather than fly . It’s often cheaper and always less stressful. When you add the time spent getting to (and through) the airports, a one-hour flight equals a 4 hour drive–and if your flight is delayed (ever have that happen?), it’s actually faster to drive!

– I purchased a ticket from Vegas to Minneapolis, but with intermediate stop in Dallas. Due to pilot illness the last leg was canceled, and I argued I should get the FULL ticket back since they did not fulfill the contract (deliver me to Minneapolis). The airline refused saying “We got you halfway there.” I got back just 1/3rd of my original cost.

– If airlines can refuse to deliver a passenger to his/her destination, and essentially split the ticket into two separate flights with two separate charges, why can’t we do the same?

– I used to fly direct from LAX to PHL but when US Airways & American merged the direct cost increased from $350 to $750. Same flight…. but now they had a monopoly on that direct flight.

– So I started splitting my ticket by buying LAX to NYC or LAX to BWI (with stop in PHL). That brought my price back to what it used to be, and I felt zero guilt because US Airways/American screwed customers when they raised the price $750 for the same Direct flight that used to be $350.

– Megacorps are “things” like rocks. They have no souls or morals and therefore don’t care if they rip-off the customer.

I still try to maintain status. Last year I was Platinum Mileage Plus and Gold Skyteam. Sadly, I fell out of status with Skyteam and have moved back to Gold Mileage Plus. I’ve done nothing with AA /One World, since 2004. I have one advantage over the rest of you: I live in Europe. When United and Delta brought in the spending thresholds for elite status, they exempted program members based outside the US, from this requirement.